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Friday, June 4, 2010

This almond butter sauce recipe is very low carb and very high protein unlike many sauces. It is simple and quick to make. Pour it over steamed vegetables. Add it to stir-fries. I think it is especially good with chicken and veggies. Make it a little thicker and use as a raw vegetable dip. Make it thinner and use as a salad dressing (just thin it down a bit with water).

This versatile sauce is a diabetic's dream. Almonds are one of the healthiest foods a diabetic can eat. Very high in antioxidants, they are known to stabilize blood sugar. They reduce the blood sugar spikes caused by other foods when they are consumed at the same time. They have a glycemic index of zero. Diabetics are at a much higher risk of heart disease and the monounsaturated fats in almonds protect the heart and lower LDL cholesterol levels. Apple cider vinegar is well-known to reduce blood sugar levels. Some diabetics drink it mixed with water every day for this purpose.

In a little sauce pan low heat, combine all ingredients except the water. Let the flavors blend for a couple of minutes and then add about a 1/3 cup of water and stir thoroughly. The sauce should be pretty thick at this point so you will want to slowly add water to get it to the exact consistency you want. Heat for a few minutes longer taste testing for flavor. Serve warm or cold depending on your needs.

Additional Notes:

You can substitute any nut butter for almond butter in this recipe. I especially like to make "cashew butter sauce."

Monday, May 31, 2010

All of the ingredients in this simple recipe are excellent choices for the diabetic. Baby spinach is loaded with flavonoids which are known to eliminate free radicals which can lead to diabetes. Apple cider vinegar is alkaline and helps you more easily digest carbs and this in turn lowers blood sugar. Of course, the salad is also very low carb so it shouldn't cause a blood sugar spike.

Baby spinach salad is quite versatile and can be easily turned into a complete low carb diabetic meal by simply adding protein (see below for suggestions). Keep in mind that baby spinach is more tender and has less of a bitter taste than larger spinach.

Mix the apple cider vinegar and the olive oil well in the bottom of a BIG salad bowl. Be sure to use a big enough bowl that you can toss it well. Add a little salt at a time and taste test it until you get it just right. Add the spinach and toss it for at least 3 minutes. You want it to become partially wilted because it will taste sweeter.

I usually like to keep this salad really simple if I use it as a side and I don't add any more ingredients since they can detract from the delicious flavor of the baby spinach. However, if you're having company and want to fancy it up a bit and maybe add some color and make it more visually pleasing, here are some ideas of items that do complement it well:

Red Pepper Cut Into Strips
Black Olive Slices
Sliced Water Chestnuts
A Few Walnut Pieces
A Few Almond Slices
Chopped Red Onion (just a little as this one can be over-powering)

If you add a protein and serve it "a la Florentine" you can easily turn this simple salad into a full meal. Here are things you could add:

Baby spinach is in season from March through May and again in September and October. Try to get some at your local farmer's market for guaranteed freshness and to know for sure it was grown organically with no pesticides. Plus you'll have the satisfaction of supporting a local farmer. You will definitely notice a difference in taste if you are used to buying mass produced spinach in the supermarket.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

When you cook up a pot of white chili, the aroma is so amazing don't be surprised if your neighbors drop by for a unexpected visit (this has happened to me twice).

This delicious white chili recipe is perfect for the diabetic. It is very high in protein and and low in carbs. As long as you don't add bread or crackers, a diabetic can eat all they want and not feel guilty. The white beans are high in the type of fiber that stabilizes blood sugar and keeps it from going up. It has been well documented that garlic lowers blood sugar and you can't seem to put too much in this recipe as it harmonizes so well with the other ingredients. Cilantro also lowers blood sugar. Lemon helps you digest carbohydrates better and therefore lowers sugar.

Skin the chicken but don't worry about getting every little bit off. The skin on the wings is quite difficult to take off so I always leave that on and it gives some extra flavor to the broth. Cut up the chicken into manageable pieces, freeze what you don't use. Boil at moderate heat until the meat is practically falling off the bone and it has cooked down into a good rich yellow broth. You may need to add a little water a few times during this process as it boils down. Add some salt and a little black pepper while the chicken is boiling. Take the chicken out of the broth and let it cool. De-bone the chicken into little pieces and put back into broth.

Now add everything else except the lemon and cook on low for about an hour. If you really want to make it good, put it on a very slow simmer and cook for longer.

Don't skip this important step:

After dishing into bowls for serving, squeeze some FRESH lemon (I like a lot) and add a little black pepper (preferable fresh ground).

Substitutions & Additional Notes:

Be sure NOT to add the lemon while cooking as the lemon juice will quickly turn bitter.

I know those plastic lemons are handy and keep a long time but I really encourage you to try this with FRESH lemon. The blend of the fresh lemon and the other ingredients just has a flavor to die for.

You can find pickled pepperoncini in the condiment section of most major grocery stories. I used to have trouble finding them but now I've even seen them at the Dollar Tree for a buck a jar. If you don't have any pickled pepperoncini, you can substitute a small can of green chiles but it's not quite as good.

Pepperoncini, which is sometimes spelled with only one p, pepperoncini, has a bit of kick to it but isn't nearly as hot as jalapeno peppers. If you want more heat, just add more peppers but be careful to let everything simmer for a while before you taste as it can take a while for the heat to meld into everything. Peperoncini are also called sweet Italian peppers (but with kick) and Tuscan peppers.

If you don't like heat, carefully remove all of the seeds from the pepperoncini.

Be careful when selecting white beans in a can as some companies add sugar and other undesirable ingredients. You can of course cook up some dry beans and use them instead but of course this is not as convenient.

White beans and navy beans are the same thing. Any type of white beans will work, although I prefer the smaller ones in white chili since they break up more which makes for a better juice. However, you can use the larger great northern beans or the even bigger cannellini beans. I've also seen people use red beans with this type of recipe but I don't prefer it.

If you want to save yourself from having to de-bone the chicken, you can just buy some boneless chicken breasts. However, the broth will NOT be as rich or as tasty. The bones actually flavor the broth and the meat off the back and in the wings are particularly good in this recipe.

I prefer to use more white meat than dark meat in this recipe so I usually freeze the legs and thighs to use in other recipes later. I also usually cut off some of the choice breast meat and freeze it pre-cut for stir-fries. Don't throw out the neck. It gets tender if you boil it long enough.

This is an easy recipe to double and it freezes well (except the fresh lemon of course). I often do so. Then, I freeze individual servings and everytime I take one out, especially on a cold day, I rejoice in having this homecookin' ready in only a few minutes.

Hi everyone. Diabetes Recipes 123 is actually a companion blog to my Reverse Diabetes Naturally blog. I wanted to have a place to separate out the recipes and cooking tips for diabetics. Basically, these recipes will be low carb high protein recipes. As some of you already know, the human body is not designed to eat the amount of carbs we are now eating in modern society. We are on carb overload! Research has shown that the rise in carbs that we've seen in American diets directly correlates to the alarming increase in diabetes. I'm also very interested in cooking with ingredients known to lower blood sugar naturally so you will see this in the recipes.